


Inside The Soul

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Inspired by a Trailer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28016226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: Escaping from the TVA, Loki winds up somewhere surprising.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 33





	Inside The Soul

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this post on Tumblr](https://eustaciavye28.tumblr.com/post/637201921888894976/i-missed-this-does-that-mean-theres-a-way-to) making the rounds after the Loki trailer. Am I going to be jossed? Most likely. Do I care? Absolutely not, I'm bringing my girl home.

The Time Variance Authority knew far too much about him, and Loki tried his best not to appear as discomfited as he was. The lower ranked employees walking around with clipboards and hand held devices to monitor activities had no faces at all, just a smooth, blank expanse where a face should be. The chronomonitors appeared when new branches of reality formed, which is how the agency even knew that Loki had taken off with the Tesseract. The Justices were at least humanoid in appearance, which was a bit more comfortable for him. But the Justices knew him as a liar, thief and mischief maker, and didn't trust him at all. That made it infinitely harder to manipulate them to his whims.

For one agency to give itself authority over all of time and space was unthinkable, and the power to prune realities from the multiverse was more than Thanos had ever promised him. The TVA's greatest weapon of all was the Retroactive Cannon, which could erase someone entirely from existence, erasing their birth and history.

Loki wanted it.

He could gleefully pretend to toe the line, at least long enough that he wouldn't be erased from history. Access to the Tesseract was strictly limited, damn it all, and having a literal collar around his neck to track his movements was even worse than he thought it would be. Asgard had gilded collars, and he'd certainly worn one as punishment once to limit his use of magic, but this one from the TVA was _tacky._ It was uncomfortable, it itched sometimes, and he could hear a low hum from the clunky box at the side of it. The agency was such a pain, and planned to keep watch over him with this stupid collar.

There was no way in all of Niffleheim that they actually knew him or his abilities. He could slip the collar and go traipsing about the universe on his own.

That was the plan, certainly. The collar proved to be a bit more difficult than he thought it would be, and rage curled deep inside his chest. Rage was at once familiar and alien; not all of the rage was his, and he didn't know where it had come from. But he still pulled on it, using it to push against the damned box digging into his collarbone. Red rage intensifying until it was white hot, and the box _melted._

Fascinating.

Loki's eyes had closed as he had worked on freeing himself from the collar, and he opened them as he wondered where that extra energy had come from.

He didn't recognize where he was. The craggy mountains in the distance were highlighted against an orange, stormy sky. Water rested in shallow pools here and there, but there was little more than scrub brush for vegetation. Shadows shifted in the distance, possibly living creatures, but Loki couldn't tell for certain what kind of alien they were or if they were a threat.

Pulling knives from his pocket dimensions still worked, so he held onto a blade in each fist and stalked forward. There were several priorities of action: establish where he was, assert his dominance, get the hell off this rock and out into the galaxy to stake his claim somewhere. He'd figure out his way back to Asgard and the rest of Yggdrasil's branches from there.

One of the shadows resolved into an armored redhead seated on a smooth section of the craggy world. Moving around to meet her head on, Loki abruptly stopped in his tracks. Natasha Romanoff was there, hair longer than he had seen it curled around her neck in a braid. She looked up at him, mouth parted in shock. "You're alive??"

That was... not good news. "What are you talking about?" Loki barked.

Natasha stood abruptly, taking in his appearance. "You're not _our_ Loki, are you?" she asked, voice low. At his scowl, she nodded. "I've been here... I don't even know how time passes here, but I've learned a lot about the universe while inside the Soul Stone."

As much as he didn't want to admit his confusion, Natasha could see it. Of course she could, the woman was a monstrous intellect and master manipulator wrapped in a soft skin. She explained what the world was like since Thanos got all of the Infinity Stones. Loki couldn't contemplate a reality where he was seen as a savior to the Asgardian people, that he would have sacrificed himself to save them. True, it was all filtered through Thor's perspective, and he was skewed, but he wouldn't have lied about that kind of detail.

This entire story was fantastical, but undoubtedly true. The strange power that had allowed him to fracture the collar resonated inside him and insisted that it was the case. "This other version of me sounds... admirable."

She laughed, a sound that was almost carefree and light. How she could sound like that in a dark and awful world like this, he had no idea. But the only version of her that he knew manipulated him, fought him, and held his own scepter to his throat.

Hm. He could use that. There was no plan in mind, but he never had a plan in mind. That was rather the point, because he couldn't be predicted, no one could plan against him. Of course, that also meant that he could be outmaneuvered when he didn't plan too many steps in advance. Thor was all about tactics and chess, and he was more about the subtler manipulations of rumor and innuendo before he threw everything into chaos.

"I could use you," Loki said, lifting his chin slightly so he could look down at her. "Your skill set is quite useful."

Natasha smirked at him, the awful woman. "You mean you need someone more manipulative than you are, and capable of planning a dozen steps in advance."

Loki narrowed his eyes at her. "You're mocking me."

She made a big show of stretching her arms out and cracking her spine. "I've been busy, even here while dead—"

"Wait. You're dead?" Loki blurted.

Straightening, she nodded. "I sacrificed myself in exchange for the Soul Stone." At his horrified expression, she shrugged negligently. "If it's a question of my life vs. billions or trillions or even quadrillions of souls in the galaxy, there's no math in that. So I jumped from there," she said, pointing at the tallest mountain in the distance, "in exchange for the stone. Of course _I_ can't use it, but I asked the stone to appear for Clint to bring back."

He felt vaguely ill. He couldn't imagine ever doing something like that, yet apparently, enough had changed in seven years so that he _had,_ and sacrificed himself to save Asgard.

"I'm not the only one here," Natasha said, dragging him away from his tortured thoughts. "I've sparred with Gamora and a few alien creatures that are here. It's been fun."

"Gamora," Loki repeated, blowing out a breath. "Because of course, the Mad Titan would sacrifice his favorite daughter for the Soul Stone. Of course he wouldn't value lives more than power and his own demented vision."

"I suppose I'm glad you're not on his side," Natasha mused. "But you being here from 2012 means that something went very, very wrong in the plan we had."

"Because I wasn't supposed to get the Tesseract."

"Well, no. We're supposed to get the stones, use them to defeat Thanos, then put them back."

Loki snorted. "Put them back? Why would you do that when you have access to absolute power then? There's so much you can do with it!"

She lofted an eyebrow at him skeptically. "Like?"

He sputtered, and should've known that she would challenge him. Natasha huffed and then started walking, perpendicular to the direction he had approached her with. Loki took off after her, since she seemed to know where she was going. "Do you think I killed myself taking off my collar?" he said in a small voice, hand coming up to his throat.

That of course meant he had to explain himself, which was embarrassing and belittling and _why did he even mention the collar?_ Because he didn't think ahead, that's why. But she responded with kindness, which was likely more than he deserved from her, and he could easily twist it around and make it seem like that was his plan all along.

"I don't think you're dead," Natasha said simply. "You don't feel like the others here, which I know is a vague kind of response, but that's what it is. We all picked up something from being here, an understanding of how this universe works and the magic and all of the different offshoots that can be created from it."

"Magic brought me here," Loki said, an idea forming slowly in his mind. It didn't even bother him that she didn't seem duly impressed. There was a magician in New York City, apparently, and she had no idea what he could actually do with his gifts.

"So magic should help you leave," she concluded, just as he had.

That odd burst of energy still coiled inside him. Prodding at it, that energy felt familiar, almost like that of the Tesseract.

Which moved through space.

Loki grinned, the type with teeth and wild eyes that would frighten anyone else besides this fearsome woman beside him. "I think I know how I got here, and how I can leave again. I can take you with me."

She didn't even pause to think about it. "How about Gamora?"

"If we find her, we can take her, too. Even the others, if they want to go." Take that, TVA. How many chronomonitors would that spawn in an instant?

Natasha's eyes lit up and she brought her fingers to her lips for a piercing whistle that was more like a shriek. Loki managed not to sink to his knees from the force of that blast, but only just. He swayed and bit the inside of his cheek in surprise.

Being inside the Soul Stone had indeed changed her. As strong as she was before in spirit, she was no longer just a fragile human. That would be interesting to play with, if she was willing to go along with him. After all, in this timeline, she was still alive and fighting in New York City with her allies. She couldn't go back there.

Loki could have power and that ret cannon after all. The TVA would never know what hit them, and he couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

The End


End file.
